And you can't even imagine how much human waste is found in public pools and water parks.

"A single fecal accident can contaminate a water park with millions of gallons of waters and be easily spread by swallowing a few mouthfuls of water," Dr. Kelly Reynolds, an associate professor at the University of Arizona College of Public Health, wrote in Water Conditioning and Purification Magazine.

Outbreaks Are Increasing

Cooling off in this heat seems like a good idea, but the question is, will it be worth it at the end of the day?

Experts are warning that even when public waters look crystal clear, there could still be a lot of harmful parasites swimming with you.

From A Splash Of Water

When contaminated water from Kennywood Park’s Raging Rapids in Pittsburgh splashed into Robert Trostle's eye, he showed signs of pinkeye, but the culprit of his pain was something entirely different.

Trostle was diagnosed with microsporidia keratitis, a type of eye infection caused by a parasitic fungi.

The parasite ate away the cornea of this eye, forcing him to undergo "an extremely painful surgery where the parasite was scraped out of the eye with a surgical scalpel," according to Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

In light of these cases where people have contracted a nasty parasite from swimming in public pool waters, here are three tips on how to keep you and your family safe.

How To Protect Yourself

1. Know when to walk away

If you walk near a public pool or water park and it reeks of chlorine, it's probably a good idea that you return another day.

As mentioned before, the strong smell of chlorine indicates an overwhelming number of pathogens in the water.

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